Instabilities in Spin-Polarized Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

We report a first comprehensive theoretical analysis of optically pumped spin-polarized vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, which combines the spin-flip model with the largest Lyapunov exponent technique to determine regions of stability and instability. The dependence of these regions on a wide range of fundamental device parameters is investigated, and results were presented in a new form of maps of the polarization versus the magnitude of the optical pump. We also reveal the importance of considering both the birefringence rate and the linewidth enhancement factor when engineering a device for high-frequency applications. © 2011 IEEE.